


in between time & space

by gossamerthoughts



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, BAMF Hermione Granger, Canon Divergence - Post-Hogwarts, Draco Malfoy in the Muggle World, F/M, Hermione Granger & Harry Potter Friendship, Hermione Granger is a Good Friend, Ministry of Magic (Harry Potter), Past Hermione Granger/Ron Weasley, Post-Hogwarts, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-04
Updated: 2020-08-12
Packaged: 2021-03-05 22:48:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,968
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25703074
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gossamerthoughts/pseuds/gossamerthoughts
Summary: The start of the new millennium has the newly minted Hogwarts graduates wandering around the Ministry a little drunk. Ron touches a mysterious object that seems to be a Portkey, but little do they know that it also has the ability to bend time…OR“Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore.”Harry Potter AU, set in 2020 America.
Relationships: Astoria Greengrass/Ron Weasley, Ginny Weasley/Blaise Zabini, Hermione Granger/Draco Malfoy, Luna Lovegood/Theodore Nott, Pansy Parkinson/Harry Potter
Kudos: 19





	1. prologue: yellow brick road

**_British Ministry of Magic, January 1, 2000._ **

They are drunk.

They are drunk off shots of Firewhisky and flutes of champagne, and some strange cocktail that Ginny  _ insisted _ they all try (apparently Luna is quite a good bartender, and has invented that one.  _ No Nargles in it,  _ she had insisted). To Ginny and Luna’s credit, the strange, eerily smoking grey cocktail  _ is _ quite good, but it makes the whole lot of them drunker than a whole round of Firewhiskey shots.

The Ministry of Magic is no place for a bunch of drunk almost twenty-somethings, but that’s the Ministry’s fault for holding a New Year’s Party there, isn’t it?

Ron suggests they head into one of the forbidden rooms; Hermione glares. Because even if she’s so tipsy she can barely tell if she’s holding her wand or not (she’s not, it’s a glass of champagne and she  _ hates _ champagne), she knows a bad idea when she hears it.

But Hermione has been overruled ( _ Don’t be bitter, Granger,  _ Blaise had said.  _ Just because you and Weasley have broken up doesn’t mean you can reject all his ideas). _

So here they are. In this room they are  _ definitely _ not supposed to be in. In the bloody Ministry of Magic. She, Hermione Granger, one third of the bloody ‘Golden Trio’ everyone seems so set on calling them, is also standing here with a group of Slytherins she didn’t think she’d ever speak to again, let alone call her friends.

They all look at each other. Harry and Ginny are holding hands, Pansy’s hanging onto Blaise’s arm to steady herself, Astoria somehow manages to look decidedly  _ not _ drunk (how is her platinum blonde hair so perfect and straight all the time?), Draco is smirking (surprise surprise), Theo looks bored, Luna looks like she’s daydreaming again, and Ron is —

“ _ No, Ron!”  _ Hermione shouts, a beat too late. She’s seen that object before, knows that they are  _ definitely not supposed to touch it _ .

Everything goes black; Hermione hears the sound of someone puking. She deeply hopes that it is not Ron puking all over her shoes again.

* * *

And just as quickly as the room shifted, it came back.

But it’s quite different this time. Bright artificial lights shine down on them, turning even Astoria’s perfect complexion a sickly shade of yellow. The artifacts on the wall have been clearly labeled via strange digital tags that flash pertinent bits of information. And there is a neatly printed sign on the doorway behind them:

_ THE UNITED STATES MINISTRY OF MAGIC. _

“Toto, I’ve a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore,” Hermione mutters, looking down at her shoes.

There is the telltale sign of Ron’s puke all over them. Great.


	2. a new age

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Draco surprises Hermione; Hermione realizes the consequences of Ron's actions.

**from the prologue:**

_ “Toto, I’ve a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore,” Hermione mutters, looking down at her shoes. _

* * *

**_United States Ministry of Magic, June 5, 2020._ **

Harry snorts. Hermione looks at him (come  _ on _ Harry), then at the others in their little, unfortunate, ragtag group. Who had apparently somehow traveled across the bloody ocean.

“Really, the Wizard of Oz?” Draco drawls, looking amused.

“How do you know it?” Hermione’s surprised. “It’s a  _ Muggle _ book. And movie.”

Draco shrugs. “I may or may not like to read Muggle classics. My guilty pleasure.”

Theo snorts. “Don’t tell Granger that. She’ll want to jump your bones.”

“Hey!” Hermione shouts. Everyone else had previously looked confused at her Muggle reference, but they’re all laughing at Nott’s joke nonetheless. Because her affinity for books is oh-so-funny.

There are more serious things at hand, however. If only she can remember where she saw that object Ron touched…

Oh.  _ Oh. _

“Bloody hell, Ronald Weasley!” she screams. The whole group takes a step back.

“Mum would be proud,” Ginny mutters.

Hermione ignores her friend. “Why the fuck would you touch an object in a forbidden Ministry room, you dolt? I  _ told _ you we shouldn’t even have gone in there in the first place!”

“Hey! First of all, please don’t yell. So loud. Second, if we’re in the States, it’s kinda cool, huh? We can just apparate back — might take us a while, but —”

“ _ No, we can’t, Ronald! _ That was a spatium tempus, a time and space warper. We’re not just in America.  _ I don’t know what year we’re in. _ ”

Everyone’s gaping at her, suddenly feeling a lot more sober.

“Please, tell me this is a bad dream,” Pansy moans, looking a little green.

“Don’t puke, Pans!” Theo says brightly, earning himself a hard glare from Draco.

“There are a lot of Tumperumps in here,” Luna says dreamily.

“Huh?” is the group’s collective answer.

“She means idiots, idiots,” Theo says.

Before anyone can come up with another quick retort, the door swings open.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Having SO much fun writing their banter haha.


	3. i keep a record of the wreckage in my life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group is discovered by a very unlikely figure.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> chapter title from "nightmare" by halsey

**_United States Ministry of Magic, June 5, 2020._ **

_ The man who walks in looks like the human version of a carrot,  _ Draco thinks.  _ A human version of a carrot who had tried to emulate the famous Malfoy hair, but had gotten it terribly wrong. _

He recognizes him, of course. He’s someone his father grumbled about behind the scenes but was polite to his face; this man was someone who the Dark Lord had tapped into to bring the cause to the States.

“Mr. Schlecht,” he says neutrally. “Hello.”

The man looks affronted. “That’s  _ Minister _ to you. Huh. Malfoy, is it? You still look like a kid.”

_ Still? _

“When did you become Minister?” Hermione asks carefully, one eyebrow raised.

Because last they all knew, Patton Goldenridge was the Minister of Magic in the States.

“The past four years.” Schlecht looks haughty. “Don’t they teach you anything in Britain?”

“What year is it?” Hermione asks, her expression not betraying the anxiety Draco knows she’s feeling. He can practically feel it radiate off of her.

“2020, Miss —?”

“Granger.” She tries not to look disgusted as the American Minister’s eyes linger for several beats too long on her chest. To be honest, she perhaps should have given a fake name, but given that the Minister knew Malfoy, it was too late. Besides, he seems like a bloody idiot.

The wheels seem to be spinning (very slowly) in the Minister’s head; ten sets of wary eyes watch him as he stares off into space.

“Well! Tell your father he should drop by the Ministry the next time he has business in America, why don’t you,” the Minister says finally. “I’ll have one of my people get you guys out of here. I don’t know why you’re here, but whatever.”

“Yes, I will,” Draco says smoothly, resisting the urge to roll his eyes. They need to play nice.

* * *

**_Boston, Massachusetts, June 5, 2020._ **

“Blimey, that Minister is bloody barmy!” Ron exclaims as soon as they’re out of the building. Theo snickers; Pansy rolls her eyes.

Astoria looks like she very much agrees, but is too well-bred to actually say she agrees.

“He’s a bloody idiot,” Draco grouses.

“Well, what the hell are we supposed to do?” Blaise demands. “We’re in the States and  _ twenty bloody years in the future. _ ”

“Blame Ron for that one,” Hermione says (more than a little bitterly).

“Oh, come on ‘Brightest Witch of Her Age’! Surely you have some plan to get us out of here?” Draco smirks at her. He’s finding that he rather  _ likes _ seeing her all nettled.

“Back off, Malfoy!” Harry says, glaring at his now-friend and sounding disturbingly like he had back at Hogwarts.

Draco puts his hands up in surrender. “But really, Granger  _ is _ the brightest and if anyone can come up with a plan, it’s her.”

No one can disagree with that; now all the eyes turn to her expectantly.

She sighs; pulls a book out of the small beaded bag that she had Transfigured recently into a more stylish handbag (but the Extension charm still holds – thank Godric). “I’ll need to read through this. But in the meantime, we should find a place to stay. Feed ourselves. Get clean. You know, the typical human things.”

Theo raises an eyebrow. “You just… happen to have the exact book you need to get us back?”

“I have a library in there,” Hermione answers nonchalantly. “I used a nonverbal  _ Accio _ to get it for me.”

He lets out a low whistle. “Why are you  _ surprised _ ?” Blaise asks his friend. “You know Granger and her books.”

“Well, you lot can stay at my place,” Draco interjects, before the conversation can devolve into another argument about how much Granger likes bound parchment. “My father has a few properties in the States; looks like we’re in Boston now. There’s a small house on the Cape we can stay at. It’s by the ocean,” he adds helpfully.

* * *

**_Cape Cod, Massachusetts, June 5, 2020._ **

It turns out that Draco’s definition of ‘small house’ was very much contextual. Compared to Malfoy Manor, the Cape Cod house is very small. Compared to normal people’s houses, the Cape Cod house is a mini-mansion in itself.

The Slytherins are deeply unimpressed and stride in as if they own the place ( _ remove your bloody shoes!  _ Draco had shouted after them). Ron looks as if he has won the lottery; Harry shrugs, Ginny grins, Hermione hopes there is a very large library inside.

Unsurprising, really.

Surprisingly, there is  _ no _ house-elf in this Malfoy property (Draco looks absolutely horrified at that and wonders aloud many time over the course of the evening  _ where the bloody hell my house elf is _ , leading Hermione to scoff and tell him,  _ I hope he or she is free and happy out of servitude!) _ . But all the tension is forgotten as Harry reminds them all about S.P.E.W. and Hermione turns scarlet.

It  _ does  _ mean that they have to do their own cooking, cleaning, and laundry, something the Slytherins are deeply unused to. Hermione declares right away that this will  _ not _ be a repeat of the year she and Harry were on the run — i.e. she is  _ not _ cooking for everyone every night.

“Can I  _ please _ do anything but cook?” Ron wheedles as Hermione begins making the chore rotation sheet.

She smirks at him. “Oh, I’m not letting you cook. We would starve because of your lack of ability to make anything actually  _ edible _ .” Ginny’s snickers are heard somewhere in the background, and Ron turns as red as his hair.

“Okay… cool.”

“I’ll take a double shift on cooking,” Draco offers. “I can promise you my food  _ is _ edible.”

Strangely, the thought of Draco and the word “edible” together make Hermione’s mind turn to places it really should not, and she literally shakes her head to clear her thoughts. As she meets Draco’s grey eyes, his lips lift in a very telling smirk.

Bloody hell, this was going to be more of a nightmare than she’d thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Schlecht” = evil in German. Hope you all are enjoying so far xo


	4. saltbox house on the coast

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hermione finds peace by the ocean... until someone interrupts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> title from "the last great american dynasty" by taylor swift

**_Cape Cod, Massachusetts, June 10, 2020._ **

The ‘little’ seaside mansion is surprisingly one of Hermione’s favorite places. It reminds her a little of Shell Cottage, of that last year with Bill and Fleur and Ron and Harry, a lot of safety. Of where she had escaped with the word “MUDBLOOD” carved into her arm by Draco’s deranged aunt (may she  _ not _ rest in peace), barely holding onto the last threads of her sanity.

But here, by the coast, she feels a strange sense of peace. It’s been ages since she’s been in the Muggle world, let alone America, and the quaint town they have landed in is the Muggle world at its best — quiet, wholesome, and cheery. Though it’s beginning to get busy (summer season, she suspects), they are able to blend in quite well once they’ve purchased a whole new wardrobe.

All on Draco’s money, of course. He wouldn’t let anyone access their vaults back in England, claiming that they didn’t know what situation they were in. There was  _ plenty _ of money (so much so that Ron’s eyes nearly rolled back in his head and stayed there) in the house’s master bedroom safe.

* * *

So they had Apparated to the nearby Wizarding community of Salem, changed their money into Muggle dollars, and went on a lovely shopping spree in Boston.

Hermione had to admit that the new clothes suited everyone. It’s bloody hot here in the summers, and she’s chosen clothes that are practical and breezy – white linen tops, denim shorts, stretchy blush-colored tank tops.

Pansy had rolled her eyes at Hermione’s decision to shop in Anthropologie and instead headed for the high-end designers on Newbury Street. She decided that this was the summer of tasteful neon, and had outfitted herself accordingly, in bright curve-hugging pieces.

(Personally, it affronted Hermione’s eyes a little, but she noticed with amusement that Harry’s mouth gaped open when he saw Pansy’s new clothes.)

Luna had wandered into Free People with a dreamy look in her eyes and immediately got asked if she was one of the models. She came out with flowy floral dresses, loose pants, and off-the-shoulder tops.

Ginny positively  _ beamed _ at the thought of shopping on someone else’s coin ( _ thanks Malfoy,  _ she had cooed) and had went off with Blaise, returning with so many bags that he looked like a pack mule.  _ Half these bags are Blaise’s!  _ she had protested when everyone gaped at her. No one quite knew how she managed to go to so many places in so little time, but they all oohed over her new combat boots.

Ron had looked deeply confused, and Astoria was in need of someone to hold her bags, so he obediently went along with her and Pansy as they headed to the designer stores. While Pansy’s choices were loud and colorful, Astoria’s were pastels and whites, gauzy gossamer fabrics that gave just the hint of something, but not too much. It looked like Ron had returned with some goodies too — Hermione deeply hoped that the two witches had used their own tasteful fashion sense on him, because Merlin knew Ron needed it (not that she was any fashion expert herself).

Draco, Harry, and Theo had gone off Godric-knows-where, but Harry returned looking like a mini version of the two Slytherins. All three were dressed in tan chinos and loose button-downs (or a T-shirt in Harry's case); Draco’s was pristine white, Theo’s was baby blue, and Harry’s was navy. Theo had the air of an overly excited child as he practically  _ skipped  _ over to them.  _ I got to play dress up and Daddy Draco paid for it!  _ he had proclaimed gleefully.

Draco had positively  _ glared _ at him.  _ Call me ‘Daddy’ one more time, Nott, and I’ll hex your balls off. _

Theo had merely given Draco a version of his own infamous smirk, shrugged, and moved the conversation along.

Hermione had tried not to think too much about how good Draco looked in Muggle clothes.

* * *

She’s still thinking about that now (and how to  _ fix this situation, of course! _ ) when a voice interrupts her.

“Mind if I join you?” Grey eyes peer at her curiously as she nearly falls off the rock she’s perched on.

“Merlin, Malfoy! You scared me,” she says unnecessarily, slipping back into her old practice of calling him by his surname in her flusteredness.

He merely smirks and raises an eyebrow.

“Yes, sit.” Hermione sighs and scoots over.

“So, something on your mind, Granger?” His smirk is still there. “Thinking of how good I look?”

“I —  _ what?! _ ” To her dismay, Hermione feels her cheeks turn bright red.

He lowers his head so that his lips are right in line with her ear. “Want to know a secret? I think you look bloody fantastic in those Muggle pants.”

They both glance down at her shorts; her legs are beginning to gain a golden tint from their time by the coast.

“What do you want, Malfoy?” Hermione splutters, deeply confused at the turn this conversation has taken.

Draco shrugs, his blonde hair falling over his eyes. “Just wanted to let you know what  _ I _ was thinking.”

Hermione’s eyes narrow a fraction of an inch before she shoves him. “ _ Were you using Legilimency on me?” _

Now it’s  _ his _ turn to blush. “I — uh… not on purpose?” he tries.

Hermione glares daggers at him. “You can’t  _ accidentally _ use Legilimency. It’s quite literally not possible.”

“Alright. You caught me. I was curious.”

“You had  _ no right! _ My thoughts are private!” Taking a breath, she calms down a bit, curiosity getting the best of her anger. “But how did I not  _ notice _ you in my mind?”

He grins, before quickly looking contrite. “My mother is a very skilled Legilimens. It turns out, if you have a proclivity for sensing people’s emotions, you can slide into their thoughts a bit easier than if you have the emotional capacity of a teacup, like Weasley.”

A small laugh bursts out from Hermione at this. “I always said Ron had the emotional capacity of a tea _ spoon _ .” Her gaze turns serious again as she looks at Malfoy, cinnamon brown eyes meeting stormy grey ones. “But don’t  _ ever _ do that again without my permission. Understood?”

He nods, feeling like he got off easy on that one.

“Good. Now you’re going to teach me how to do that.”

“Me? Teaching the great, know-it-all Hermione Granger how to  _ do something _ ?”

“Shut up, Malfoy.”

Someone clears their throat from right behind them, nearly causing Hermione to fall off her rock again. “What?!” she yelps, turning to glare at the intruder.

“If you two lovebirds are done pseudo-flirting, come with me. There’s something you need to see.” With that, Theo gives them a big wink, blows a kiss, and turns back to the house, crooking a finger to indicate they should follow.

Draco grumbles. “Sometimes I wonder why I’m friends with that boy.”

“I heard that!” Theo calls without turning around. “It’s because you love me. Now hurry up, slowpokes. I don’t want to turn around and see that you two have gotten lost snogging.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Got a little caught up in imagining the crew clothes shopping... sorry :')


End file.
